My name is David Capdevilla, I was born in 1632 in the city of Sevilla in Spain.I came from a good family. My father was from Italy.He was an artisanand he came to Sevilla where he met my mother.
I had two older brothers and one young sister. One became a soldier and was killed in México.The other I've never known what happened to him. My sister got married with a rich german merchant and went to Germany with him.
I had a good education, but I always wanted to go to the sea although my family wanted me to be a artisanand like my father. One day my father called me in the bedroom and asked me why I wanted to leave his house in Spain.And then he said to me:
-If you go to the sea, God won´t be pleased with you.I think you’ll be very sorry if you don’t listen to me – and nobody will help you.
I listened carefully what my father said to me,I started to think what he said,but I still wanted to go to the sea.
I talked to my mother to talk to my father,because I wanted to know what my mother thought about my voyage.I promised to her if I didn’t like it I would come home and work very hard as a artisanand with my father.
06/10
06/10
My first voyage was to Málaga but in the middle of the voyage was a very strong storm that our boat sank,but me and some friends escaped in a small boat wich we travelled back to Sevilla.The capitan of the ship was my friend's father, when he has knonw what my father said to me he said :
-If you don’t go back home terrible things will happen to you. So I decided to go back to the sea.In my second voyage I was capturaded and I became a slave,but I escaped to Brazil with my friend Xury(who was also a slave) and I started to grow sugar.But I had to go to Africa to capture slaves for my sugar plantation.But I didn’t had so much lucky,because I shipwrecked and I woke up in an island in the 30th of September of 1659.
When I woke it was morning. Then I decided to go to the ship because I needed food, drinks and clothes. I made a small raft to carry these things off the ship. My next job was to find a safe place to live. I wanted to be near the sea. Maybe I would see a ship , and I could call for help. I still didn’t know if there were cannibals on wild animals on the island. Some hours after I found a safe place for my home, that was in a flat piece of land on a steep hill, so nothing could come down at me from above. So I started to count the days I spent on the island.
A few months after I had arrived on the island, I started to feel myself very ill.So I started to read the bible thinking that if I ask god to forgive me I would be better.When I was better I started to make things for my hut:I made a big fence and I found some space to grow rice and corn,so that i could make bread.
One day I decided to explore the island,and then I found a beatiful place with lots of fruits that I took to my hut.There were grapes there that used to make raisins and stocked in large pots.I thougth that place so calm and beautiful that I made a hut there.There I tried to catch a parrot that I called him Joe.
In the following day I started to make a canoe to get out of the island.But in my escape I wasn’t very suceded because I went back to the island.After this i promised to never use my canoe again.
In the island I started to capture goats to get meat,milk and their skin.I made with the goatskin some clothes,a hat and an umbrella.With the milk i made butter and cheese.One day while I was walking on the island I saw a footprint in the sand.I got cold feet because I couldn’t move thinking that something could be behind me following me to my hut.I didn’t got out of my my hut for several days, and planted lots of trees in front of my hut.
A few days later I saw a ship shipwreking and I went there with my canoe to get somethigs to me like guns,food,gunpowder,and I also foud a dog.When I was coming back to my hut I head a man’s voice.For this long time I haven’t heard a man’s voice so I thought that I wasn’t the only human in the island.I followed the voice and I found two prisioners of the canibals.One of them was knocked down while the other was waiting.The man that was free started to run in the direction of my part of the island followed by two of the canibals.I followed them and I found the man that was waiting and the two canibals.Then I shooted on them keeping the man that was waiting alive.Then the man that I saved the life putted his head under my feet(that simbolizes that I was his master and he was my slave).I gave him the name of Friday,because this was the day that I saved his life.
Now that he was my slave I started to teach him the things that I have learn and the Christian religion,I gave him guns,food and a goatskin robe.One day Friday told me that there were canibals boats on the shore.We went there and killed many canibals.We’ve found hostages one of was Friday’s father,other was the capitan of a ship and other a Spanish.The capitan told me taht happened a mutiny in his boat and asked for my help to recapture the ship. After we recaptureted the ship the capitain gave me his ship ,so that I finally could go back home.In the 19th of December 1686,I left the island.
In Spain I didn’t found any of my parents,but when i went to Germany I found the sons of my sister.But I decided to travel to England but not by the sea,by land.When come that we have been told that were wolves there.for ours protection we made a fire line.Some wolves were burned .When i arrived on England i decided to sell my platation in Brazil that made a lot of money and suddenly I was rich.I married and had two sons and one daughter.When my wife died I decided to travel with my nephew.In one voyage I went back to my island I got there people to populate the island.
All of these things,and some other very surprising things that happened to me,I may perhaps write about this one day.
